COLUMBUS, Ohio. – Redshirt juniors Geoffrey Alexander (133 pounds) and Lou Mascola (157), and senior Spencer Myers (285) earned bids to the 2015 NCAA Wrestling Championships after their performances on day one of the Big Ten Wrestling Championships at St. John Arena.
Mascola and Myers remain alive, and will compete in seventh-place matches when action gets underway on Sunday. Alexander qualified after a victory in a consolation match that gave him one of 12 bids at 133 pounds.
“I'm happy we got three guys qualified for nationals,” head coach Kerry McCoy said. “We were really close in a couple matches and one point here and one point there, we could have done a lot better. We've just got to focus on what we've got.”
The Terps dropped a number for close matches in the opening round, with five coming by three points or less. Alexander got the Terps back on track in the first consolations session with an 8-2 win over Michigan State's Garth Yenter.
Redshirt freshman Justin Alexander (165) followed with a 5-3 win over Rutgers' Nicholas Visicaro. Junior Josh Snook then defeated Nick Proctor of Michigan State, 7-1, at 174 pounds.
After receiving byes in the first consolation round, Mascola and Myers both earned trips to the NCAA Tournament with victories in the second consolation session. Mascola took out Penn State's Luke Frey, 5-2, before Myers defeated Billy Smith of Rutgers, 6-2. Both dropped their following consolations matches and will be in seventh-place matches Sunday.
Action continues in Columbus on Sunday at 1 p.m. The final session of the tournament will kick off at 3 p.m. Consolation bouts can be seen live on BTN Plus.
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